This year Earth Day marks a couple of milestone birthdays: 40 years since the original US Earth Day in 1970 and 20 years since the first International Earth Day in 1990. Organized as a series of teach-ins by a small group of educators and environmentalists, the 1970 Earth Day was envisioned as a grass-roots response to the environmental crisis of the day, inspired by the impact of and lack of government action in response to an oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara CA. Planners aspired to attract crowds as large and passionate as those protesting the war then being waged in Viet Nam to make themselves heard on the issue of the environment. From their actions, 20 million demonstrators observed the first Earth Day and urged leaders and citizens to make the changes necessary to preserve the health of the planet. Since that time Earth Day has grown to become an international event, marked in 141 different countries in 1990 to where it is today, about to be celebrated by a billion people in over 190 countries and coinciding with the World People’s Conference on Climate Change.

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This year has been a challenging year to champion the need to take action on Climate Change.  It’s not that people don’t believe that it’s happening – Canada is currently out suntanning during our warmest, driest winter on record.  It’s that many people feel that if this is climate change – then they’re all for it.

Not everyone shares our enthusiasm…  If you headed to Florida, or even Cuba this spring break, you likely saw some uncharacteristically (and unwelcome) cold weather this year.  Herein lies the challenge of climate change – it makes for very unpredictable temperatures and weather patterns – and one heck of a time vacation planning.

So how do you pick a vacation destination?  If you’re green-minded, adding planet- friendly as a criterion can make this difficult job even more challenging.

So what actually constitutes an eco-friendly vacation?

1. Close to home – one of the biggest impacts of a vacation can be the air travel, so consider a “staycation” instead – where you explore options that are little more local.  Everyone has a place close by that they’ve always wanted to check out and just haven’t had time – even a moderate drive is much less harmful to the planet.
2. Consider a “Green Hotel” – the hotel industry has been quite slow to join the environmental movement, but through associations like Green Hotels you can choose accommodations that keep the planet in mind.
3. What about an Eco-Tour?  The EcoTour Directory considers an Eco-Tour to be “a trip that causes minimal impact to the environment and local people. The site is usually culturally and biologically diverse and attracts tourists who have a common interest in nature, wildlife and culture.”  But buyer beware. Many so-called eco-tours specialize in exploiting the very resources they are intended to protect.  Do your research carefully, and get good references.
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Now that the media spotlight is gone, and a couple of months have passed, what does the Copenhagen Accord really mean for the past, present and future of climate change?

January 31, 2010 was the deadline for participating countries to submit their proposals to the UNFCCC to reduce greenhouse gas emissions reductions. How did they fare?

Currently, with no changes, the forecast for average global temperature increase by 2100 is 4.7 degrees Celsius.  Scientific consensus is that this would be catastrophic, with sea levels rising by one metre.

The Copenhagen Accord was a promise (non-binding, remember) that the participating countries would reduce emissions so that we have a minimum average global temperature increase of only 2.5 degrees by 2100.

When you look at these projections, it is worth noting that many African countries, who are particularly sensitive to the drought and desertification brought about by higher temperatures, walked out on the Copenhagen summit at one point because their position is that average temperature rise by 2100 of more than 1.5 degrees will be catastrophic for them.

So how are the proposals that were just submitted on January 31? According to Climate Interactive, a collaborative project to use open-source tools to accurately predict the future of climate change, the proposals that have just been submitted don’t even take us to where we’re supposed to be ~ that is, reducing emissions such that the temperature only increases by 2.5% by 2100. (more…)

In the aftermath of the UN’s conference on Climate change in Copenhagen last month and what seems, atfirst glance, to be the lack real progress from countries for plans and commitments to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions, we are tempted to say “Why bother?”

The magazine The Economist comments: “Faced with the undoubted grandeur of climate change, a grand response seems in order. But, to the immediate disappointment to most of those participating and watching, the much anticipated UN climate conference held in Copenhagen in December led to no such thing…” [The Economist (Leader) Dec 30, 2009]

The article goes on to comment that two positive outcomes may have been on some agreement for a process for international monitoring and also the recognition of new political structures to enable progress across developing and developed countries.

While this international debate is raging should we, the public, the consumer, the homeowner…really care?

I feel we must – individuals can make a difference - we must all strive to learn more about our environment, our lifestyle, the products we use and impact on climate change, pollution, depletion of natural resources as well as the health impacts of products we use every day.

The Green Cricket Blog can provide a forum for sharing thoughts, ideas and actions. What do you think? Do you think you can make a difference to what often seems to be a hugh issue and out of your hands? And why should we care?

In the coming weeks we shall talk more about the Copenhagen Accord, but also discuss the 5 criteria for selecting Green Cricket products that we feel support the move towards achieving a Green Lifestyle and a more sustainable world. We also want to hear from you - to understand what you think, what governs your buying and lifestyle decision choices. Post your comments!

(Trevor Smith, Editor)